America's Finest City

Day 38: Newport Beach to San Diego

Today's Distance: 90 miles

Total Distance: 1,963 miles

After a much needed rest day, I carried on towards home.  I'm very familiar with today's ride, it's one I've driven hundreds of times.  Today was my first time doing it on a bike but I was so amped to finish this adventure that nothing would've stopped me.  I took MacArthur Blvd down to PCH where I would spend the morning.  A beautiful but uneventful ride down the Newport Coast to Laguna Beach, with a few other older cyclists struggling on the uphills.  I took a quick stop at my one of my favorite spots in this area called Crescent Bay, where I have lots of other memories, just so I could add one more.  After Laguna I made my way towards Dana Point and through Doheny State Beach.  When I got to San Clemente, I had some fun riding through the residential maze that was the recommended bike route.  I had no problems navigating my way through, with help from all the signage.  I heard this part was confusing, but maybe it was before all the signs were put up.

The day was perfect to be riding by all these beaches.  I felt triumphant after crossing into San Diego County, I literally cannot believe I've finally made it after all this time.  I still have some more riding to do, but in my mind this mission I've been on was conquered at that moment.  The first part of San Diego, was riding through San Onofre and by the famous "Dolly Parton" power plant.  Through the majority of San Onofre, I raced a guy I dubbed as a super cyclist.  He had an aerodynamic helmet and eyewear, a full body cycling suit, and an expensive road bike.  I just assume he was training for the Tour de France and all I could focus on was trying to beat this guy.  I'm pretty positive he had no idea we were racing, but he was pushing hard nonetheless.  My competitive nature kicked in at it's highest gear and even though I was on a touring bicycle with panniers full of stuff, I chased this guy for miles on the flat road.  I never did quite catch him, but almost.

At Camp Pendleton the bike path turned inland because no cyclists are allowed on the 5 freeway.  I didn't do any research beforehand, so I was just hoping they would let me in.  All I knew was that I needed an ID and I should be good, so I planned ahead and put my drivers license in my jersey pocket.  Not sure why I decided to do this, but I put it in the same pocket as my cell phone, which is the only pocket that I really mess with because I'm constantly pulling out my phone.  Somewhere on the bike path heading towards the military base entrance, I pulled out my phone to check something, and out went my drivers license even though I didn't know it at the time.  I rode up a short hill to the entrance, pulled up to the marine guarding the entrance, and that's when I realized I lost my license.  Even though I had my Passport, I didn't want the first thing I did after this trip to be a visit to the DMV for a new one, so I told the marine I'd be back.

I backtracked a couple miles, with no luck.  After giving up, I headed back towards the base entrance and not too far from the entrance, I saw the back of my license!  When I got back to the entrance there were about 10 more Marines and one of them asked where I was riding from.  One thing I learned is that whenever that question is asked, I knew I'd be spending the next 10 minutes or so in conversation about it.  Finally on base, the roads were marked with "Tank X-ing" and there isn't a whole lot of activity.  The whole lost license debacle put me a little behind so I had to turn it on again.

Once I made it to Oceanside I met up with Jay, another one of my best friends.  He wanted to ride the rest of the day with me and I was all for it.  I had no worries about Jay because once again he's an old football teammate of mine, plus he's an all star in his Spin class.  The only problem is that he borrowed a friend's bike and shifting on a real bike is a little different compared to an indoor cycle.  After some practice and a visit to a local bike shop, we finally figured it out and were on our way.  Had an Acai bowl at Swami's Cafe in Carlsbad and then continued to head down the coast.

In Encinitas, I was adjusting the seat on Jay's bike and then I hear another familiar voice say, "Sup guys!"  Loren, another one of my awesome friends, sneaked up next to us and joined in on the ride!  I had no clue he was planning this, but once again my friends are the best, so i'm not surprised at this point.  So the 3 of us ride the rest of the way through San Diego.  The only real challenging climb of the day was Torrey Pines Rd.  It's a some what long climb, but I could handle the steepness and went all the way up non-stop.  Waiting at the top of the hill, another one of those "super cyclists" was flying up the hill and vomited as he rode by like it was no big thing.  That was the last challenge of this whole entire journey and the rest was all downhill from there, figuratively and literally.

We went through La Jolla and the UCSD campus, down to a bike path that would take us to our final destination for the day.  This part of the ride was most familiar to me on a bike because I lived in this neighborhood and would occasionally take a beach cruiser down Morena to Coronado Brewing Co's tasting room.  The sun was setting on Mission Bay to our right and as we pulled up to the brewery I started to see a lot of familiar faces.  I was welcomed by lots of close friends and family there to celebrate with me and enjoy a few well deserved brews.  I really couldn't think of a better way to finish this thing off then to spend it with my loved ones.  After a couple hours of hanging out with everyone, I'm finally back at my home and get to sleep in my own bed tonight.  Today was such an amazing day, I feel blessed!